Doing It For Money...

...that's the title of a new book about the trials and tribulations of screenwriting I just finished reading. It was quite enjoyable. I picked up the book less because I wanted to be inspired and/or frightened by the tales from Hollywood's successful screenwriters, and more because the editor, Daryl G. Nickens, was one of the instructors at the Cosby Screenwriting Fellowship I took at USC in 2005. One of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, Daryl's personality is the exact opposite of what one would expect from a working screenwriter. I swear, the guy doesn't seem to have a self-loathing bone in his body, and that's quite a refreshing thing considering the bitterness you encounter when chatting with other screenwriters. There's certainly a fine line between amusing self-deprecation and depressing self-loathing...I freely admit that I'm a frequent visitor to both of those places.

As for my own writing, my experiences over the past few months have definitely left me with a sunny disposition for the moment. I'm plowing along on my new spec, which should be completed by the first week of July (give or take a week...er...month), and I'm feeling confident that, if I don't screw it up, it will be even better received than my last one. Hell, maybe it'll even sell.

The general meetings have been interesting, and I've even made a few meaningful contacts. I feel like I've sat in every producer's office in town. At the the very least, my knowledge of the workings of Hollywood is increasing exponentially.

And I'm even up for a potential feature writing assignment. I should know whether or not I get it within the next week. I'm pretty excited about it though. It's a project I'm very passionate about, I think my take is unique and I think I can EXECUTE exactly the story that I pitched. I also really like the other things (film and television) this producer has done, and this appears to be a project that will very likely get made. Even being considered for such assignments is encouraging, considering it has only been three years since I started taking this "hobby" of mine seriously. We'll see if it bears fruit.